IBM shows growth after 22 straight quarters of declining revenues, but has it turned the corner
0IBM shows growth after 22 straight quarters of declining revenues, but has it turned the corner.
For the first time in more than five years, IBM has reported quarterly financial results that were better than in the same quarter in the previous year. IBM's fourth quarter revenues actually increased by 3.6 percent to $22.54 billion, though the annual results showed a 1 percent decline to $79.14bn. (See: IBM Q4 edges expectations, as-a-service run rate now $10.3 billion)
This is the worst annual number since 1997, when IBM's revenues were $78.51bn. Of course, money isn't worth what it used to be. Today, IBM should have declared revenues of $120bn - the top right of my graph - just to keep pace with US inflation.
Can we claim that IBM's decline has bottomed out or even that it has turned a corner? It's not clear. The quarterly result was an improvement, but it came with caveats.
First, IBM benefited from currency changes - a weaker dollar. Without that, the quarterly growth would only have been 1 percent, not 3.5 percent, on IBM's own assessment.